Committed to eradicate polio virus to protect children from crippled diseases: Commissioner

KARACHI : Commissioner Karachi Muhammad Sualeh Ahmad Faruqui has said that government is committed to eradicate the polio virus and for the purpose making all out coordinated efforts on priority bases to make Pakistan polio free country. and to protect our children from this crippled disease.

He said this while talking to the delegation of Independent Monitory Board of the Global Polio Initiative Mission, an international partner which is visiting Pakistan to review the progress for the polio eradication efforts and activities in Pakistan.

Commissioner told that there is no new case of polio in Karachi and Sindh this year. He further said that all stake holders were working with great responsibility and dedication in the city of Karachi to contribute the efforts to make Pakistan polio free country. He appreciated the role of international partners also and hoped soon they will be able to achieve the goal of elimination of polio virus from Pakistan to stand with the world community which has already achieved this goal to make world polio free.

Commissioner highlighting the issues confronting to the efforts being made for the elimination of polio virus said that they are attempting the mobile population where missing and refusal children numbers are observed high. It has been examined that they are concentrated in some polio related high risk union councils out of 188 of the union councils of the city.

It has also been examined that the people reacting negatively to the vaccine largely lie in slums areas where health services and civic services needed to be improved. He said there is massive movement of population into and within Karachi particularly in these high risk union councils.

He said city administration has taken special steps to get administer polio drops to all those children coming from other parts through massive campaign at the entry points of the city where special polio teams have been deputed to work 24 hours including at the bus stops, railway stations and airport.

He said he has also started consultation with the concerned departments and NGOs in this regard with request to provide them better health facilities and to provide other civic facilities and make special arrangements for supplying clean water. He said he also has discussed the matter with the partner Rotary International. Rotary has assured they would start a project for providing clean in a month, he added.

The Independent Monitoring Board Mission appreciated the efforts of the government to eliminate the polio virus. They said Pakistan is on right trajectory to eradicate polio from the country by maintaining intense pressure of the crippling Polio virus.

They briefed about their activities in Karachi to the Commissioner and told them they have visited some of the high risk areas where there is a problem of missed children and there are problems of refusal and those areas where people reacting to welcome the polio teams . They visited Baldia, SITE, Mochko of district West and specially Gujro , in Gulshan-Iqbal District East , the delegation informed the commissioner.